[feoren]

The truth is that virtually no human has ever had dominion over their healthcare decisions at any time in history. Having that dominion involves both freedom to choose and the understanding and information you need to choose well. Lewis and Clark taking mercury supplements to help with constipation is not them "having dominion over their healthcare decisions", it's them being woefully uninformed. Humanity never had "dominion over nature" until we could build shelters, control fire, cultivate crops, and tame animals -- advancing medicine and seeking the advice of experts is how we might start to attain such a dominion over personal healthcare. The people who demand Ivermectin, or who go for crystal healing or homeopathy, they don't have "dominion" over their own healthcare, they're just ignorant and have been infected with viral disinformation.

But upvoted for "yay for the neigh"

[BirdPlusPlus]

I appreciate your comment though I disagree with what seems to be your interpretation of dominion. Good lord I love this board, people actually converse. I upvoted you too, though I take issue with a couple of your points.

I don't believe anyone ever has or ever will have dominion over the outcome of their actions within any domain - regardless of power they may otherwise wield. The only certainty in life is uncertainty after all. So, I don't find the presence of uncertainty an acceptable lower bound. Additionally, believing our contemporary body of medical knowledge is complete to the point where we aren't currently making mistakes tantamount to mercury laxatives seems to me, dangerously hubristic.

Being able to make choices unconstrained by experts and authorities who believe your decisions are wrong, is the essence of freedom and the impetus propelling all forward progress. Free Inquiry demands we embrace others' self-determination and latitude in their decisions, respecting the near certain presence of unknown unknowns.

More average people now are reading scientific literature than ever before, which should be cause for rejoicing. Sadly, we seem to be ignoring that opportunity and abandoning all semblance of rational, data-driven science. Rather, we're corrupting Science with Religion, skepticism with faith, breaking into factions mutually recognized as heresies. The data are twisted to fit expectations, not dispassionately observed. We're twisting men of science into priests, models into dogma, literature into liturgy, and inquiry into inquisition. We're not going to notice the unknown unknowns until they've already sunk in their fangs and got a mouth full of buttcheek.